I don't know what got into the White Sox.
Locked in a 3-3 quagmire in the 12th inning, the Sox stopped hitting like the Sox, once again raising the question: Why don't they try doing that all the time?
What happened was a series of redemptions against Scott Elarton, a pitcher they don't hit all that well:
*Nick Swisher was in danger of going below the Mendoza Line after going hitless in his first four at-bats. He started the night by singling back up the box. Dewayne Wise replaced him as a pinch runner.
*Alexei Ramirez blew an attempted hit-and-run that hung Joe Crede out to dry in the ninth and then struck out, actually executed a tougher play. He showed bunt, drew the infield in, pulled back and then took a half-swing past first baseman Victor Martinez to put runners on the corners.
*Orlando Cabrera,
abysmal with a runner on third all season long, inside-outed a single over the head of Asdrubal Cabrera to drive in the go-ahead run. Ramirez went to third, but Cabrera, for the second game in a row, made a stupid decision on the basepaths and was tagged out anticipating a missed cutoff man.
Elarton walked A.J. Pierzynski to bring up Carlos Quentin, who showed that even his nubbers are dreamy. He could only get the end of the bat on it, but it spun off the foul line back into foul territory, and Martinez couldn't pick it cleanly. Ramirez scored, and two batters later, Brian Anderson made Elarton pay for walking Jermaine Dye with a double over first base to give the Sox a three-run lead.
That's right -- four hits to center or the opposite field in one inning. Crazy, huh?
Even more unbelievable was work by the bullpen, and most of the six relievers used worked their way out of high-pressure situations.
Octavio Dotel: Worked a 1-2-3 inning thanks in part to a diving catch by Dye. Found trouble in the eighth after he allowed a one-out single, then didn't notice the runner took off on a chopper back to the mound. He threw to second, only to find that Franklin Gutierrez was easily safe. Instead of two outs and one on, he had the opposite on his hands -- and he exacerbated the situation with a wild pitch to take away the double play.
He struck out Cabrera, and then entered...
Matt Thornton: ...who struck out Grady Sizemore on four pitches.
Scott Linebrink: Ha! Everything's easy for him.
Nick Masset: He fared OK considering the strike zone shrank dramatically when he took the mound. He worked around a leadoff walk well enough after a sac bunt and a groundout to second, and in came...
Boone Logan: ...who appeared to allow the game-winning single to Kelly Shoppach. The problem for the Indians was that Shoppach hit it too hard, and it landed in the mitt of Dye. Logan went 1-2-3 in the 11th and picked up his second win of the season.
Oddly enough, Bobby Jenks was the least-effective reliever. He allowed the tying run to come to the plate in the 12th after back-to-back singles opened up the inning, but a 6-4-3 double play and a strikeout later, the Sox avoided what appeared to be a sure defeat.
Why did it look bad? Because Javier Vazquez didn't look great, and the Sox offense looked worse.
The Sox had their chance against Paul Byrd in the first, when they greeted him with three consecutive singles to load the bases. They only managed one out, as Dye struck out looking and Jim Thome grounded out to first to score the only run.
Vazquez failed to hit his spots all day long, and the Indians punished him with base hits of their own. He gave up nine over six innings, and two left the yard. It was the first time a Sox starter had allowed multiple home runs since Opening Day.
The Sox roughed up Byrd for 10 hits, but could only manage one run because they couldn't stay out of the double play. They grounded into three against Byrd, including one started with a diving stab by Cabrera. The Gentleman Masher hit his 10th homer (and fifth against the Indians) to finally break the rut and make it a 3-2 game.
They tied it up in the seventh, starting with a peculiar play involving Cabrera. With two outs and two strikes, Paul Byrd chose a two-pump windup. Distracted by the first pump, Cabrera called time -- and the umpire granted it to him. Starting over, Byrd threw him a strike and Cabrera drilled a double to the left-center gap to chase Byrd out of the game. It marked
the second time an odd call by an umpire spelled the end for Byrd against the Sox.
Pierzynski tied it up with a soft single to center off Rafael Perez to make it a brand new ballgame. His team would take advantage of it.
Record: 28-22 |
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